After
a rest of some hours, another attack was made on seven different
parts of the town at the same time. This assault was the most furious
and bloody of the siege, but it was the last. Spencer saw that, in
spite of the splendid courage of his soldiers and of the Flemish
burghers, it would be impossible to take the town before the French
army arrived, and during the night the English, with their allies
from Ghent and Bruges, retired from before Ypres. The failure of
this campaign left Flanders at the mercy of France; but the death
of Count Louis of Maele, which took place in January, 1384, brought
in the House of Burgundy, under whose rule the Flemings enjoyed
a long period of prosperity and almost complete independence.
It was believed in Ypres that the town had been saved by the
intercession of the Virgin Mary, its patron saint. In the Cathedral
Church of St. Martin the citizens set up an image of Notre,
Dame-de-Thuine, that is, Our Lady of the Enclosures, an allusion
to the strong barrier of thorns which had kept the enemy at bay;
and a kermesse, appointed to be held on the first Sunday of August
every year in commemoration of the siege, received the name of
the 'Thuindag,' or Day of the Enclosures.
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